The Community Blog for Business Analysts

Leadership & Management

My current, favourite question for Executives and Architects is “How do you see Architecture operating in an Agile environment.” This question usually elicits a wry smile and a response along the lines of “I will need to get back to you on that!” Many people are wondering how Architecture will fair in the world of Agile. My ...

There are hundreds of traits that make up a good manager, but here are the top 9 skills we recommend for a business analysis leader - or any leader in general.
1. See Design as a Differentiator
Anyone can design but not everyone designs well. Who cares? Frustrated users care. Seeing design as important sets you apart from all ot...

Scope – the last frontier. We are on a mission where no business analyst has gone before. To explore strange new diagrams and to have the project scope clearly understood. Extra credit to those who remember which TV show that was from! Scope and context are the number one reason business expectations about a project ar...

Being a badass isn’t about intimidation or trying to be something you simply are not. It’s about knowing who you are and using your strengths to drive forward. So let’s look at a few of the ways to be a badass in business:
1. Passion for Your Craft Is a Powerful and Infectious Energy
Showing passion for your work in ...

Internships can provide some great learning opportunities. I was lucky enough to learn one of the best lessons on the first day of the very first internship of mine. My mentor at the time asked that, for the first 4 weeks, I invest time in every aspect of his business to learn how everything functions. I thought he was insane yet it was one of the ...

In the larger context of life, it is very clear that negotiation skills are very important and that those that have them are better off than those who don’t.
What about in business analysis? Are negotiation skills important?
The answer is an emphatic: YES! You bet they are!
Business analysts negotiate or facilitate ...

If you are managing a team of business analysts or systems analyst you probably have two main goals in mind:
- to make sure your team understand the requirements (the real ones)
- to make sure that you develop a solution which makes sense in the context of your constraints.
The chances are that one of your biggest constraints...

While the Business Systems Analysis line of work is just beginning to be recognized as a profession of its own, the shortage of business analysts and systems analysts continues to get worse.
And the shortage is global!
Would you believe that India is having a shortage of qualified IT professionals? Well, you better believe it!&nbs...

The question will undoubtedly arise during your tenure as a business analyst, ‘How do I manage a difficult stakeholder?’
I once encountered a stakeholder, a very highly respected mathematician, who had developed an application based on a mathematical model of his weather systems. The algorithm was amazing. The application sucked. It wa...

A few years ago, I had shifted with bag and baggage to the US. I thought that the upcoming project would consume me for at least a couple of years. Alas, that was not the case. I returned home in five months. Well, I don't even want to begin to think about the financial and emotional set back that my family and I had to endure!
Why did this happen...

Would you like to be perceived as effective? Want to succeed?
Make sure you follow up.
As a BA you are involved in several initiatives at different stages of development. What separates an average professional from an exceptional one is following up on tasks assigned to others on your projects.
I'm too busy,...

Do you want to be an effective BA?
The first step is to make the key stakeholders trust you.
As I wrote in my previous post it is the first step in establishing yourself when you're the only BA in your organization.
When I joined and sat down for my first meeting with the project team not only was I met with stares of host...

Are you the first and only Business Analyst in your company? If so, you know how hard it is to survive while doing your job and bringing about organizational change. If not, you may be frantically thinking "How do I get out?!".
This post is to share my experience in how to not only survive but thrive!
I joined a mid-size company...

In the quest to improve safety records, organizations often rely on motivational posters, classes or training programs to help teams minimize risk and improve safety performance. However, great safety records are not achieved through these efforts alone. Improving safety requires leadership – organizational leadership at the front lines that is equ...

Teams and organizations are constantly plagued by project execution errors and failures. These failures create an execution gap -- a gap between what an individual and/or team plans to do and what they actually do instead. Just as retention rapidly degrades after learning, so does project execution after strategic planning. So what can be done?
In...

Do you know how to provide collaborative leadership in a disciplined fashion? And how does one define disciplined collaboration? The current business and leadership literature touts the importance of collaborating in our turbulent world. Large and small businesses and teams struggle to wrap their heads around just what collaboration is. Many see co...

Do you know what your business's core competencies are? Is there just one or are there many organizational attributes? If you answered that there are many, how would you describe them succinctly? Core competencies are one or a combination of a few unique or rare abilities; however, a description of core competencies is not simply a laundry list of ...

Gravity can be a wonderful thing. It is an irresistible force that keeps us grounded on this big, beautiful, floating blue marble. It is even applicable to organizations in the form of organizational gravity. For example, I worked with an organization that coined a catch phrase for a challenge beyond its scope of control, deeming the situation a "g...

In today's management environment, new forms of and tools for corporate leadership development programs have emerged. One of the most popular development tools is executive coaching. The number of executive coaches has more than doubled in the past decade and corporate leadership development programs are utilizing their services more frequently. Ho...

The May 1, 2011 mission to find Osama Bin Laden has become one of the most celebrated military mission planning successes in recent memory due to the utilization of a little-known and seldom-used practice called the Red Team.
The mission was a daring raid executed by the courageous members of the U.S. Navy SEAL DEVGRU, also known as SEAL Team Six,...

Modern Analyst Blog Latests

As we start a new year many of us will take the time to reflect on our accomplishments from 2012 and plan our goals for 2013. We can set small or large goals. goals that will be accomplished quickly or could take several years. For 2013, I think Business Analysts should look to go beyond our traditional boundaries and set audacious goals.
Merriam-...

Recently, I was asked by the IIBA to present a talk at one of their chapter meetings. I am reprinting here my response to that invitation in the hope that it will begin a conversation with fellow EEPs and BAs about an area of great concern to the profession.
Hi xx
…. Regarding the IIBA talk, there is another issue that I am considering. It's p...

Continuing the ABC series for Business Analysts, Howard Podeswa created the next installment titled "BA ABCs: “C” is for Class Diagram" as an article rather than a blog post. You can find the article here: BA ABCs: “C” is for Class Diagram Here are the previous two posts: BA ABCs: “A” is for Activity Diagram BA ABCs: “B” is for BPMN